Fashion Speak
CREATING FASHION
Creating collections is something Sreejith
enjoys. “I love looking around and searching
for stories that make me want to create fun on
my clothes. Most stories come from my own
experiences. Whether it’s a narrative about
flower stringing or a mood board inspired by
the people who make clothes, I usually like to
stick to personal experiences instead of trying
to get inspired by something I haven’t seen or
experienced first hand.”
His boutique workshop has a small team
with tailors, embroiderers and designers. His
collections have a strong fabric base. “A lot of
our fabrics come from weaving clusters around
South India. We also collaborate and work on
our fabrics with different weaving societies like
the Chendamangalam weaving society and with
organisations like Aranya Natural in Munnar that
empower and train differently - abled artisans to
create beautiful Shibori.”
WORKING WITH WEAVERS
It is therefore little wonder that Sreejith’s
heart beats for the Kerala weavers. “We
have been sourcing fabrics from weavers
in Kerala since 2014 but when the floods
of August 2018 happened we rushed to
rebuild the cluster that was affected in the
waters. This brought them to the limelight
for a short while. This period of publicity,
not only made Chendamangalam popular,
but it also got people to understand the
feel of their fabric. This in turn helped us
convince the weavers that their products
had fans from across the world. We are
now making more modern sarees
with them.”
APPAREL I August 2020 I 43